Jingming

Chapter 508 Just a little bit closer

No need.

There is no need to fuss, there is no need to rush, there is no need to take risks, there is no need...

But there’s no need to assume.

For too many things, it may even take decades or hundreds of years for future generations to comment on merits and demerits, and they often hold different opinions.

At this moment, An Da's choice is the same, and so is Zhu Houcong's choice.

None of us are mediocre people, and we all appear "unwise" at this moment.

Outside Jining City, tonight was extremely tragic.

The night is indeed more conducive to the Tatar attack. At least under the cover of night, the Ming army's accuracy will be worse.

The Tatars, on the other hand, have a clear target for attack. They just need to rain down arrows, suppress the city wall as much as possible, and then rush inward with all their strength.

As long as they can climb the city wall and secure a passage, what follows will be a flood of people pouring into the city and killing them wantonly.

In ancient times, when defending a city, if the enemy could be allowed to set up ladders to reach the top of the city, it would often be an extremely dangerous situation.

This is a symbol that the attacker is close to success. In order to end the tragic war as soon as possible, the attacker will let a steady stream of soldiers attack the city wall. Once they successfully climbed onto the city wall, they built a passage as if they were rushing to land on the beach, and then a wave of people poured into the city and started killing people.

"No need to be afraid, come again!"

"Yes!"

The army arrived first and besieged Jining. It was not so easy for the peripheral reconnaissance forces to pass the news to the city.

Tatars began to rush over on the ladder again, and some even took the risk of riding a horse and rushed over directly. The sound of cannons on the two wings of the city wall rang out again.

But it was an attack from the bottom of the city wall and a ladder built up; and the Tatar ladder was not a very strong or well-made ladder.

At the same time, there were soldiers holding long-handled sharp axes and chipping away at them, causing the strong men's and their own tiger's mouths to burst open.

It's not a ladder that's too huge or too heavy, and it doesn't have any iron hooks or thorns, so you can try to push it down and cut it off.

Another pair of rough but heavy ladders arced from the air and hit the city wall. On the other end was a rain of arrows shot by dozens of soldiers to force the defenders to retreat.

The reason for letting the other side go to this point is to make them feel that there is hope for success and to be confident that they have the means to deal with this kind of siege method.

"Axe, strongman!"

It was a crudely made ladder that had been lowered from the opposite slope. They use local materials, the wood is not treated, and they don't have good carpenters themselves.

"Left and right, let go!"

The former general of Tumut's tribe now naturally commands the most elite force under Anda.

Of course, the benefits of strength in numbers must be fully utilized.

They were not pushed up the slope, but along the passages between the slopes, as if they were preparing to start a three-dimensional siege.

In the chaos, the last thirty or fifty steps of varying widths between the city wall and the slope seemed like an abyss, swallowing up countless captives.

If it is a very serious engineering ladder, first of all, a strong iron hook will be installed at the top, which will bite the city wall when it hits the top of the wall. Secondly, it may be filled with iron thorns, coated with slippery oil or even poison, making it difficult for people to start. Thirdly, now that there is a breakthrough, how many archers and soldiers will keep their eyes on the top of the ladder? Whoever comes forward will be the priority target.

Those crudely made ordinary ladders before were all bait and deception.

Another pair of ladders were moved by the strongmen first, and then pushed away diagonally.

As hot water and hot oil were poured down, countless people's souls returned to the eternal life amidst the pitiful cries.

There are indeed not many craftsmen under Anda, but after all, they have accumulated so many years. How could we achieve nothing during the Western Expedition?

Now, after several days of reassembly here, more than 20 ladders were finally pushed out from behind the mountain where Anda was in the dark.

The battle has already entered this state. If we adjust our defensive strategy, it will be chaotic for a while, right?

"Whether it's a blunderbuss or a cannon, if you use it for a long time or if you use it too frequently, problems will definitely occur!" An Da encouraged morale, "Now, the warriors who have returned to the embrace of Changshengtian have almost filled those few lines. The roads are gone! Their lives must be paid with the lives of Han dogs! Can their artillery bombard these roads? No matter where they are blown away or destroyed, we can fill them in with one heart and one mind!"

There is a huge disparity in strength between the enemy and ourselves. There is no way to build a deeper line of defense outside the city, and there is no way to prevent the enemy from approaching the city wall. Generally speaking, this must not be allowed.

Materials and human lives are on one side, the physical strength and will of living people are on the other side, and the stable state of usable ordnance is also on the other side.

Because it is laborious and inefficient.

This is not the first ladder to be overturned, pushed under the city wall, or cut off by the Ming army.

"Get up!"

"It's almost time." I looked into the distance, then looked up at the night, with a cold voice, "Push over! After resting for so long, it's your turn."

When you get under the city wall, whether you dig out the roots of the wall or get a ladder out, it is a great threat to the defenders.

From the south side of the east side of the city to the north and then to the north of the city, the scenes on the seven siege slopes were similar.

However, you cannot allow a ladder to exist stably for too long. After all, waves of defensive firepower will also create gaps.

There were shield bearers among the generals who defended the city. The shields they held high could block the arrows as much as possible, but they could not withstand the ladder that was thrown at them.

But it's not easy either, because the slope on the opposite side is already higher than the top of the wall, and there are already many people and horses on the ladder swooping over, and the distance they can reach is very short.

"呲呲呲..."

And once the ladder is set up on the city wall, theoretically, don't even think about pushing the ladder down.

The warriors raised this end of the ladder and shouted chants in unison.

War is often the most intense consumption.

And the thing I said I pushed over was the real good guy.

Under the suppression of guns, arrows, and small cannons, every attack and defense around the ladder became an effective consumption.

Those powerful cannons that resounded in the sky were indeed powerful, but the sheer accumulation of soil slopes could not be easily erased.

What's the point of slowing down? Isn't it possible to climb some slopes with your legs?

In the dark of night, the Tatars were still rushing toward Jining City like a tide of ants.

At this time, from the field of vision that was not very clear through the telescope at night, the guard finally discovered something unusual.

"General Staff! There is a real ladder!"

Mao Bowen was not afraid: "How could we not be on guard against this? Prepare the thunderbolts. Don't worry about it for now. Wait until all the ladders are attached to the wall and the Tatars gather under the ladders, then blow them up together!"

Jining is taking risks, but this is a strategic necessity.

As a tactical point to strategically contain the Northern Lu, Jining City must be on the edge of being broken but not yet broken.

In other words, for the sake of strategic success, Jining City can be destroyed.

So before that, it is natural to consume as much of Beilu's vitality as possible.

Everyone has their own methods and preparations.

What Daming prepared here was even more different and abundant firepower.

At this time, the Ming Dynasty still relied on artillery, muskets, bows and arrows on the city walls, as well as other ordinary means of defending the city.

After all, in Mao Bowen's view, it is not a general attack at the moment, but just a tug-of-war stage before the general attack.

The slopes and ladders were narrow and could not allow more soldiers to spread out.

But once the last distance is filled up with the corpses and the soil carried by the civilians at the risk of their lives, making it easy to walk on, then will the real general attack begin.

The Tatars used the corpses of slaves and even their own people to build graves on the spot, so that Jining's city wall no longer served as a line of defense.

The beating was really hard, and it really had the momentum to sink the boat.

However, I don’t know much about today’s Ming Dynasty, so Mao Bowen does not feel that he can’t defend it now.

In several houses in the east and north of Jining City, there are five people in each house.

Now one of them is holding on to a thread in his hand and looking worriedly at the person who looks at the door from time to time: "Boss, tell me, the Tatars are making so much movement, if I pull the rope later and there is no movement..."

"Don't worry about these! Ever since it was reported that Yujia was going to Xuan Mansion, we have been preparing for several months. We got the news about the enemy in Shajing, and then we buried it. We tried it when we buried it. The rope can be passed through, so what are we afraid of?"

"But the Tatars are digging up the earth to make a mountain, and they might damage it..."

"It's not just our team! Even if a few of them are mute, it won't be a problem. There are too many buried! Besides, if they were really dug up, they would have been able to hear..."

As soon as he finished speaking, there was suddenly a huge muffled sound, and a lot of dust was shaken in the room.

Several people looked at each other.

"...This movement, right?"

"...Can't be wrong."

"Don't worry! The military order hasn't arrived yet, just keep waiting!"

In the direction of the city gate, there was a loud noise just outside the city.

Now, the civilians and soldiers who had escaped with their lives in that area all looked frightened, staring straight at the huge pit over there.

"Is there a bigger cannon?"

Broken limbs were everywhere, and miserable howls continued. Some people looked at the purgatory-like scene there, turned back and looked in the direction of the city wall, and then murmured to themselves.

There was always the sound of artillery, but they never heard a particularly loud sound, but a particularly large crater suddenly exploded here.

The unusual movements here only chilled the hearts of the nearby Tatars for the time being, but no one could tell the difference.

On the contrary, the folk here who were still carrying earth felt that something was wrong.

Now, aren't the Han people's artillery mainly aimed at the earth slopes they piled up leading to the city wall? Why is it facing a flat land where there are mainly civilians and not many soldiers? And from such a far away place, there are constant threats.

The attacking Tatars were at the peak of their morale at this moment, because with the sound of the horn, the huge ladder finally appeared where both the enemy and our front lines could be seen with the naked eye.

The blindfolded cow was pulling in front, and in the carport, which was reinforced with leather, there was a strong man pushing forward with his head lowered.

The ladders moved slowly but firmly towards the city wall.

In front and behind them, there were elites with excellent cavalry and shooting skills who provided first cover. On the left and right sides of the ladder, there are sharpshooters ready to shoot anyone on the city wall who wants to destroy the ladder.

On the city wall, with the help of telescopes, one can at least determine in advance where the ladder will be set up.

A more tense moment is about to come. Next are those slopes and these ladders, two heights, and a total of nearly thirty offensive lines.

"Hold it first!" Mao Bowen said coldly, "Pass it all on! Everyone knows what good things are in the city and what have been prepared! They haven't started using them yet, but they are going to daunt the enemy in one fell swoop! In this battle, everyone will Military achievements can be so great that they are boundless!"

He wanted to wait for the northern captives to gather more, thinking that victory was in sight.

Such a good opportunity only comes once. Even if the city wall is broken through in a few places and temporarily plunged into a bloody battle, he will not hesitate.

The messengers shouted along the city wall to boost the morale of the defenders to face the new situation.

The hard battle lasted most of the night, and no one was tired.

But there are too many enemies, and they can take turns attacking, and someone will always get a rest.

The defenders were much smaller. Even if they were rotated, they could only fill their stomachs and rest for a while.

Now, outside the city, there were sounds of "Hu Ra" one after another, cheering and cheering, shouting to kill Zhentian.

The more casualties their companions had, the more bloody they seemed to be, like wild beasts.

"What kind of drug have these Tatars been fed? Are they so willing to die to fill that hole?"

"...Don't worry about them, we've already killed Red Eye anyway. If we let them attack us, we will all die."

A group of soldiers resting under the city wall looked at each other, and then the leader asked: "How are you? Are your calves and arms still cramped?"

What answered him was the shout from above: "The General Staff has orders! Everyone knows what has been prepared for the Tatars in the city! It's not used now, but there is no need to be afraid! They have withstood it. In this battle, everyone has military merit." Boundless!"

"The General Staff has a destiny..."

The sound gradually spread away, and someone among the resting soldiers said: "Yes, how many good guys have been transported to Huailai? Did the Tatars accidentally dig up the loud noise in the north of the city?"

"Boss, go and ask for permission to go up to the city wall! I want to see that scene!"

"... Take a break, don't be in a hurry, just wait for the order from above."

The leader was a veteran, and he knew what was coming was going to be even more dangerous.

It's not that he's afraid of fighting, it's just that...it's better to enjoy his life while having great military achievements.

When the order comes, it is natural to go up and take over.

The order hasn't come yet, so take a rest.

In the distance, I heard that the ladder was only dozens of horses away from the city wall, and Anda turned over and mounted his horse.

"Blow the trumpet!"

The banner moved, and from where the Great Khan was, the dull sound of the horn spread.

At the darkest moment before dawn, the Tatar army was finally about to launch a general offensive in the east and north.

This does not mean that the cavalry holding the defenders on both sides to the south and west have relaxed. On the contrary, they have responded with trumpet sounds.

At this time, some reconnaissance cavalry from the outside of the Luqi from the south hurriedly came over, and then some of them went around to the east to look for me.

On the chaotic and orderly battlefield, the east and north sides have now entered the most intense stage.

In the leather-reinforced carport, the Tatars finally pushed more than a dozen ladders under the city wall and set them up on the city wall.

A door panel with an iron gun tip was pulled by an iron chain from behind by the Ming army. Go through the pulley, smash down the ladder, then lift up, smash again.

The sharpshooters below were unable to shoot off the iron chain because it was pulled by a pulley. Even when they looked up, they couldn't see the soldiers pulling the door panel behind them.

Occasionally shooting a few soldiers who ventured out to correct the position of the door panel, but it could not change the tendency of this thing to bang down the ladder and hit people.

"I come!"

What they could understand was that after a tall man climbed up a ladder and was hit by that thing, even though his back was dripping with blood, he howled and held on tight.

It turned out that he had his head lowered and his back hunched over.

"Push me up!"

When desperate, there are always people who can burst out with incredible vitality and strength.

Above, stones, hot water, and hot oil tilted downward, and the ground was already on fire.

In the sea of ​​​​knives and fire, the Tatars had no retreat, and the Ming army had no retreat.

"Hurree!"

"Hurree!"

Scenes of struggling to gain the upper hand and falling into battle can be seen everywhere.

In some places, some people did break out of the city wall, and after fixing their scarlet and bloodthirsty eyes on the enemy, they began to fight desperately.

Just a little bit closer.

Jining City is about to be destroyed!

At this time, some of them saw a bunch of things behind the sword player, as well as the nervous Ming army holding torches next to them.

On the city walls in the east and north of Jining City, countless people were anxiously waiting for the sound of special drums.

In many houses in the city, there were people holding their breath and listening attentively.

When the sky was dim, Mao Bowen put down his telescope on the top of the tower in the east of the city and stared in one direction.

It was already close to about 500 meters away from the east city wall. There, he just saw the large banner of An Da.

"Drum roll!"

"Dong dong...dong dong dong dong...dong..."

Rhythmic drum beats sounded, and the drum beats were gradually spread by relays.

"Here it comes! Thunderbolt cannon, fire!"

On the city wall and under the city wall, there are swings and trebuchets.

A version with a larger charge than a grenade is called the Thunderbolt Cannon.

The firearms of the Ming Dynasty were not just guns and artillery?

In those rooms, the squad leaders also heard the drums and immediately ordered: "Pull the thread!"

"go!"

In the room, special thin wires are wrapped around the pulley standing in the room.

The three people pulled the thread together and circled it. The other end of the thread was hidden in the bamboo tube on the ground in the corner of the room. This bamboo tube goes deep into the ground, like a shaft. At the bottom of the shaft is a pulley, and the direction turns horizontal, and then leads to the distance outside the city.

Over the past few months, more than a hundred of these bamboo tubes, which are several meters deep underground, have been dug out around Jining City.

The bamboo tube will eventually fester, but after all, this is just a killing move prepared for this battle.

Connected at the other end of these lines are the mines that were discussed at the original military affairs meeting.

It is safe until these special mines with huge amounts of explosives are buried and the leads are connected.

And now, the lead is being pulled.

First, under the city wall, those thunderbolt cannons that were thrown and thrown away caused the first round of bombardment.

Soon...

boom!

boom!

boom!

In the east of Jining City, the sun has not yet illuminated this area from behind the mountains, but the huge roars and fires one after another temporarily added color to the dawn.

On a roughly circular arc, flowers bloomed in the soil among the Beibei army, and the ground shook.

I swayed on my horse and looked around in confusion.

The nearest place was only about twenty breaths away from where he could ride his horse.

I felt a huge shock, and suddenly felt the strangeness of the Ming army very clearly.

Why did a huge earth flower and blood flower suddenly explode in the place that was originally safe?

If nowhere is safe under our feet, how can we fight this battle?

In the north and east of Jining City, none of the ladders under the city wall survived the dense bombardment of thunderbolt cannons.

Although the degree of damage was different, this siege method was temporarily useless.

The ends of those slopes were firmer and flatter, and now it seemed like just a matter of dashing over them.

You can really rush over it, the city wall no longer requires a ladder or a ladder to climb, it's just a little bit smaller.

But suddenly, deafening shouts came one after another from the city wall.

"The Ming Dynasty will be victorious!"

"The Ming Dynasty will be victorious!"

What responded to them was more and more uniform shouts from the south of Jining City.

"The Ming Dynasty will be victorious!"

"The Ming Dynasty will be victorious!"

Mao Bowen looked over there in disbelief.

In the telescope, a faint line and a dark red slowly spread over.

After a while, messengers came from the south.

"Report to the General Staff! We can see Duke Yi's flag in the south of the city, and the Beijing camp is coming to help!"

While he was talking, someone else came over, their voices filled with excitement.

"Report to the General Staff! The emperor's dragon flag can be seen in the south of the city. Your Majesty is driving to the south of Ning City!"

Mao Bowen stood up suddenly and asked with a trembling voice: "What did you say? Did you read that right?"

"Don't dare to talk nonsense! General Staff, His Majesty is really here. The cavalry in the south of the city are already turning their horses to the south and waiting for them!"

At this time, the scouts riding in the south finally arrived in front of Anda.

I looked over there in disbelief.

Where is the emperor of Ming Dynasty? Among the army outside the city? In the wild? Only less than ten miles?

It seemed that Jining City could be captured, but it was still a little short of it, and the round of artillery fire and mines just now made the subordinates feel confused.

I felt extremely thirsty in my throat.

How to decide? Want to give it a try?

(End of this chapter)